Bill
S1082 is a bill that helps fund the FDA with Big Pharma money. It is known
all over Capital Hill as Big Pharma-designed legislation. It is running
into all sorts of credibility problems. A vote is likely on Monday � delayed
due to all the opposition flooding the Senate by �we the people.�

Major
Problem #1 � A Fair Price for Drugs.

Realizing
that meaningful FDA reform legislation is not likely again for ten years
numerous Senators are backing the Dorgan amendment to S1082. The amendment
enables U.S. citizens to buy drugs from Canada and other industrialized
nations. This will save us at least 50 billion dollars over the next ten
years and cut the price of many drugs in half. Those opposing the amendment,
which includes most of the major proponents of S1082 and the Bush administration,
are the ones clearly on the payroll of Big Pharma. Their excuse for not
supporting it is flimsy � that it will cause safety problems. The majority
of Senators are not buying this transparent cover-up. Dorgan won Round
1 of the voting on his amendment yesterday (63-28), showing that he has
the power to hit Big Pharma where it hurts � in the pocketbook. A final
vote on the Dorgan amendment is expected Monday (keep up support for the
Dorgan amendment).

Major
Problem #2 � A Fake Safety Bill.

Last
year�s Institute of Medicine report labeled FDA management as dysfunctional
causing FDA reform to pick up momentum. To deflect public outrage S1082
was created by Kennedy and Enzi, in close consultation with the FDA and
Big Pharma. As you might expect from such a meeting of the minds, the
bill is really a Big Pharma-sponsored con job and it actually increases
the power of dysfunctional FDA management.

Unfortunately
for Big Pharma and the FDA, Charles Grassley (R-IA), a man concerned with
true and meaningful safety reform, has gone through S1082 with a fine
tooth comb. He has proposed
11 amendments to close the Big Pharma loopholes that Kennedy, Enzi,
the FDA, and Big Pharma built into this legislation. Big Pharma and the
FDA hate all 11 Grassley amendments and Big Pharma has its legion of lobbyists
trying to defeat them as you read this. Support the Grassley amendments
for true and meaningful safety reform.

Major
Problem #3 � A Sneak Attack on Dietary Supplements.

As I
have been reporting for the last week, language relating to the Reagan-Udall
Foundation for the FDA creates a new regulatory category and broadens
FDA power in a way that can be used to attack dietary supplements. In
response to this devious threat, Jonathan Emord, our nations leading health
freedom attorney, prepared amendment language to nullify the threat �
an amendment we now call The People�s Amendment. Many of you flooded the
Senate with your objections � AND YOUR VOICE IS BEING HEARD.

I have
obtained an e-mail message from David Taylor, the president of the Natural
Products Association, which went out to various heads of nutrition companies
� in an effort to get companies not to protest S1082 (dietary supplement
trade groups are not the friends of health freedom). It contained an attachment
with a transcribed conversation between Hatch, Harkin, Kennedy, and Enzi
about all the phone calls you�ve been making. It shows that Hatch and
Harkin don�t really understand what the Reagan-Udall foundation is, that
Kennedy and Enzi are lying about what it will do, AND THAT WE ARE GETTING
THROUGH. Here is the text:

SEN. HATCH: My
office has been inundated by calls from people throughout the country
who believe that this legislation, specifically the provision establishing
a Reagan-Udall Institute, will overturn the Dietary Supplement Health
and Education Act of 1994. That has not been my reading of the bill,
but I wonder if other Senators have heard similar concerns?

SEN. HARKIN: Yes,
I have received a good many calls as well. And, I have to say that I
would be very concerned, as I know the Senator from Utah is, if anything
in the bill we are considering, S. 1082, would overturn DSHEA, a law
we fought side-by-side to see enacted.

SEN. ENZI: It might
be helpful if I explained the provision you are discussing, as my office
has received many calls as well and I believe the callers are not informed
about this matter. Subtitle B of Title II of S. 1028, establishes the
Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration. That simple
purpose of that non-profit Foundation is to lead collaborations among
the FDA, academic research institutions and industry designed to bolster
research and development productivity, provide new tools for improving
safety in regulated product evaluation, and in the long-term make the
development of those products more predictable and manageable.

SEN. KENNEDY: That
is exactly the purpose of the Foundation, which was included in the
drug safety legislation Senator Enzi and I introduced last year. The
Foundation will be financially supported by industry and philanthropic
donated funds. A Chief Scientist at FDA will promote intramural research
and coordinate it with efforts at the Foundation.

SEN. HATCH.: That
explanation is very helpful. What, specifically, would the role of the
Foundation be with respect to dietary supplements?

SEN. KENNEDY: Let
me make absolutely clear that the Reagan-Udall Foundation will in no
way override, overturn or conflict with the Dietary Supplement Health
and Education Act. Nothing in this bill would have that effect.

SEN. ENZI: Yes,
we took great pains to make certain there would be no conflict with
DSHEA. Regarding foods, and dietary supplements are generally regulated
as foods, the general directive of the Foundation is to identify holes
in the evaluation of food safety and identify ways to address those
deficiencies through collaborative research with industry.

SEN. HARKIN: So,
to make this absolutely clear, what you are saying is that the bill
we are debating would in no way interfere with consumers� access to
dietary supplements?

SEN. HATCH: To
add to that point, it seems that the language could, in fact, help dietary
supplement consumers, because it would allow collaboration between government
and industry to conduct research on issues that might be helpful to
supplement consumers?

SEN. KENNEDY: Yes,
that is the case.

SEN. ENZI: I agree
with Chairman Kennedy�s assessment.

SEN. HATCH: I thank
you for those assurances and that clarification.

SEN. HARKIN: This
has been a very helpful discussion, because Senator Hatch and I could
never support legislation that would interfere with DSHEA and we are
glad to receive the assurances of the Chairman and the Ranking Republican
on the Committee.

This
is a major breakthrough � Kennedy and Enzi are now on record stating this
will in no way affect our dietary supplements. And Hatch and Harkin are
on record as being concerned. There are still two problems. 1) Kennedy
and Enzi are hard to trust, based on all the Big Pharma loopholes built
into their bill. 2) The FDA and its lawyers get to interpret what S1082
means once it becomes law. The FDA could care less what Kennedy or Enzi
intended to say. Until the language is fixed it is a problem of magnitude.

Major
Problem #4 � The Creation of FDA, Inc.

As you
can see from the Kennedy and Enzi comments above, they are portraying
the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA as a benevolent and friendly group
that will facilitate collaboration between the FDA, academia, and private
industry � receiving funding from industry and philanthropic donations
� and oh yes, let�s not forget the foundation may even help with safety.
Do you really think the FDA needs to create a whole organization to do
that? And why wouldn�t such duties just be the function of a few people
or a department within the FDA?

It is
my opinion that the primary reason for bill S1082 is to create FDA, Inc.
by using the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA. The FDA wants to be
in the drug development and marketing business and is looking for a way
to do it. Most of the issues in S1082 are a smokescreen, keeping Senators
like Grassley busy fighting all the Big Pharma loopholes. So far Kennedy
and Enzi have skillfully created so much diversion that nobody is paying
attention to the FDA becoming a drug company.

In a
nutshell, Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D, head of the FDA, has a long history
of involvement with the cancer-for-profit industry. His resume includes
being head of the National Cancer Institute, where he routinely diverted
funding from solid cancer science into the pockets of his friends in Big
Bio Tech. He was also a lead player in an old boy network called C-Change,
a group of the most powerful vested interests in biotechnology and cancer
research � which is headed by George Bush Sr. and his wife, Barbara. It
is not surprising that the current president backs Big Pharma and Big
Biotech as he does � his family wealth depends on it. Drug research and
development performed at the Reagan-Udall Foundation will undoubtedly
be paid for, in large part, by companies who have grants from the National
Cancer Institute (taxpayer funds).

Von
Eschenbach took over the helm of the FDA to create his dream of a cancer
sickness industry wherein nobody actually gets well � they just live indefinitely
in a sick condition on really expensive biotech drugs. This project is
called the Critical Path Initiative. The FDA has created highly sophisticated
software that can identify protein-molecule changes at the cellular level.
The FDA wants to use this computer software to design the entire next
generation of powerful biological medicines � making all of private industry
use its software technology. The Reagan-Udall foundation is the tool that
FDA plans to use for patent protection and licensing arrangements of its
technology with private industry � and thus the creation of FDA, Inc.
Von Eschenbach is on record as stating that the Critical Path Initiative
is the FDA�s top priority (not drug safety or food safety).

The
Critical Path Initiative has been repeatedly attacked because it would
expose patients to drugs with far less testing for safety and effectiveness
compared to drugs already on the market. Furthermore, these biologic drugs
will be far more powerful because they throw gene switches in cells �
meaning the risk for adverse events skyrockets. Initially, just patients
with no other medical hope will be the guinea pigs. The FDA wants to run
this technology in all doctor�s offices around the country � which will
require your DNA in an FDA-owned government database. This is not science
fiction � this is what the FDA is on public record as wanting to do.

Keep
Taking Action � Revised letter

Anti
S.1082 Food and Drug Revitalization Act

May
5, 2007

The
Honorable (Senator First and Last Name)

Address
Address

Dear
Senator Last Name;

The
issue of drug safety and access to drugs at a fair price is of the utmost
importance to myself and all Americans. In general, I am opposed to Senate
bill S1082: Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act, as it does
not go far enough to protect myself and my family from the dangers of
drugs. If it is to be passed I want all 11 Grassley amendments which are
true safety reform added to the bill. I am also in favor of the Dorgan
amendment that enables Americans to get a fair price on prescription medication.

As one
of the 150 million Americans that rely on dietary supplements to keep
myself and my family well, I am especially concerned that this legislation
broadens FDA regulatory power to harass functional foods and dietary supplements
� which has nothing whatsoever to do with drug safety. While Senator�s
Kennedy and Enzi are telling us not to be concerned � we simply don�t
trust the FDA and want language that protects dietary supplements in this
legislation.

It is
vital that the terms �food� and �food ingredients� be removed from this
legislation. There must be no confusing the safety of drugs and the safety
of food and food ingredients � which are governed by different laws. This
bill authorizes the creation of a new regulatory category that enables
the FDA and the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA to attack dietary
supplements and functional foods. This problem in the wording can be corrected
with this simple amendment � so as to be sure this legislation is about
drugs and drug safety only.

Amendment
to Bill S1082

Purpose
of the amendment:The bill, S1082:
The Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act, is hereby amended
to eliminate any reference to the terms food or food ingredients, such
that food and food ingredients will not be subject to any jurisdiction
or control by the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration.

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Intent
of amendment:To eliminate
from the bill any possibility that food or food ingredients would be treated
like drugs either for safety review purposes or for assessment of their
efficacy. It is a fundamental tenet of food and drug law that foods and
food ingredients are presumed to be safe and have to be established to
be adulterated only if they present a significant or unreasonable risk
of illness or injury.

Richards encourages
individuals to take charge of their health, stand up for their health
rights, and not blindly succumb to propaganda from the vested-interests
who profit from keeping Americans sick. As founder of Wellness Resources,
Inc. of Minneapolis, MN, an independently-owned fine-quality dietary supplement
company since 1985, he has personally developed 75 unique nutraceutical-grade
nutritional formulas. www.wellnessresources.com

Von
Eschenbach took over the helm of the FDA to create his dream of a cancer
sickness industry wherein nobody actually gets well � they just live indefinitely
in a sick condition on really expensive biotech drugs.